Progress, not perfection

Published: Sunday, February 9, 2014 at 08:00 AM.

According to a National Association of Home Builders study, a typical 80-unit elderly complex contributes $734,560 to local businesses and $316,000 in local tax revenue each year. Royal American representative John Lewis concedes those income figures represent a “single,” not a “home run,” but told The News Herald’s Zack McDonald that “it’s more than what the Marie Hotel is doing now, which is nothing.” He’s right.

The crime concerns are overblown. The area’s other low-income senior living facility, St. Andrews Towers down by the marina, hardly is a hotbed of lawlessness. Nevertheless, Royal American officials say the Marie would have higher rent and income thresholds than St. Andrews Towers, and residents would have to be age 62 or older. Those qualifications might screen out some wannabe gangbangers.

Finally, the Marie isn’t the only resource for the kind of trendy downtown living the city wants. Loft spaces above businesses, for instance, can be developed. The Royal American concept of the Marie should not be objectionable. The details, though, must be ironed out. Downtown critics have complained about a “discrepancy” between the company’s presentation of the project and its application to the Planning Board. They also fear that residency requirements could be relaxed if occupancy rates fall short of projections.

Royal American needs to satisfy these concerns. The city, though, should not let its idea of the perfect be the enemy of progress.

When it comes to developing a long-dormant property, Panama City officials and downtown business owners should choose progress over perfection.

The former Marie Hotel has sat vacant on the corner of Harrison Avenue and 5th Street for more than 30 years, reflecting not only economic downturns but also proving to be impervious to real estate booms. However, the locally owned Royal American company has proposed turning the building into 80 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors.

Usually a city would jump at such a chance to renovate a property that has been an eyesore — and has not been contributing to the tax base — for so long.
But the Marie project is coming at a time when the city has grand plans for revitalizing the downtown corridor. It begins with redeveloping the Panama City marina. Officials also envision a reinvigorated downtown becoming a magnet for fulltime residents to live and work. That would be another reliable source of traffic for retailers and restaurateurs, and perhaps would entice other businesses to locate downtown.

The city and downtown merchants see Royal American’s plan for the Marie as being incompatible with that vision. Their ideal downtown clientele would be younger, employable and with more disposable income than the retirees living on fixed incomes who would occupy the affordable housing project. Some also worry about crime associated with low-income housing.

In response to the opposition, Royal American has asked the city’s Planning Board to table its development proposal while it meets with Downtown Improvement Board members to address their concerns. That’s a good move, albeit one that should have been taken before the issue went before the board. The company has a lot of catching up to do, and its tardiness has fostered skepticism and mistrust.

Planning officials and downtown businesses should keep an open mind about the Marie project, especially since there doesn’t appear to be an ideal development in the pipeline to replace it.

The city has done a good job moving forward with the marina redevelopment, ending years of talking with some much-needed action, especially in securing water rights from the state. But officials should not micromanage every facet of downtown, especially to the point of discarding a sure thing — eliminating a longtime vacant property — for the uncertainty that something better eventually will come along, even though that hasn’t happened with the Marie in more than three decades.

According to a National Association of Home Builders study, a typical 80-unit elderly complex contributes $734,560 to local businesses and $316,000 in local tax revenue each year. Royal American representative John Lewis concedes those income figures represent a “single,” not a “home run,” but told The News Herald’s Zack McDonald that “it’s more than what the Marie Hotel is doing now, which is nothing.” He’s right.

The crime concerns are overblown. The area’s other low-income senior living facility, St. Andrews Towers down by the marina, hardly is a hotbed of lawlessness. Nevertheless, Royal American officials say the Marie would have higher rent and income thresholds than St. Andrews Towers, and residents would have to be age 62 or older. Those qualifications might screen out some wannabe gangbangers.

Finally, the Marie isn’t the only resource for the kind of trendy downtown living the city wants. Loft spaces above businesses, for instance, can be developed.
The Royal American concept of the Marie should not be objectionable. The details, though, must be ironed out. Downtown critics have complained about a “discrepancy” between the company’s presentation of the project and its application to the Planning Board. They also fear that residency requirements could be relaxed if occupancy rates fall short of projections.

Royal American needs to satisfy these concerns. The city, though, should not let its idea of the perfect be the enemy of progress.

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